Splash guard with plug for waste disposal apparatus



Allvg- 9, 1960 H. JORDAN I 2,948,482

SPLASH GUARD wrm PLUG PoR WASTE: DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25, 1957sheets-sheet 1 ifi/'fly m Aug. :9, 19.60

SPLASH GUARD WITH PLUG FOR WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25, 19572 Sheets-Sheet 2 lll/IIIA United States Patent Qiice Patented Aug. 9,1960 SPLASH GUARD WITH PLUG FOR WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS Hans Jordan,Los Angeles, Calif., assigner to Given Machinery Company, LosAngeles,-Calif., a partnership Filed Nov. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 698,566

Claims. (Cl. 241-100.5)

This invention relates generally to the waste disposal art withparticular reference to apparatus now commonly employed at the dischargeoutlets of kitchen sinks and the like to receive culinary waste which isintroduced into the apparatus by the human hand or washed into it fromthe sink, the waste being ground by a motor driven rotary grinder andflushed from the appanatus to a sewer system with water supplied from4the sink.

More particularly this improvement relates to a splash guard orantisplash diaphragm disposed at the top of a waste grinder and belowthe sink outlet which will pass waste from the sink into the grinder,together with flush water, such guard or diaphragm being yieldable topass the waste and positioned to intercept splash of water and materialsundergoing grinding, as well as being capable of intercepting much ofthe grinding noise.

This invention is an improvement on those shown in my prior Patents Nos.2,670,143 and 2,785,864.

A principal object of this improvement is to protect the grinding deviceof such disposal apparatus from entrance of foreign materials, whichmight be damaging, during construction of buildings followinginstallation of the disposal apparatus and prior to completion foroccupancy. Garbage disposers are now very commonly installed in newhomes as original equipment, and are therefore placed in operativeposition along with plumbing installations. Subsequent workmen, such asplasterers and carpenters, commonly allow materials to drop into kitchensinks, which materials frequently pass down through the large sinkoutlets into the grinder housings. Such materials may include nails andother hardware pieces, and other Waste which can damage a grinder orresult in burning out the motor, or the like, at some future time whenthe apparatus is to be used.

It is therefore another object of this invention to produce a splashguard of the indicated character which includes 'a safety element thatwill prevent the passage of builders waste materials, or materialsunintentionally dropped into a sink under which the disposal apparatusis suspended, down into the grinding chamber of such apparatus.

Since antisplash diaphragms of the indicated nature are commonlyproduced from rubber or flexible rubber substitutes, one form of thisinvention includes the provision of an excluding element mounted on sucha diaphragm through relatively weak and rupturable attachment means,sothat such excluding element will prevent the dropping of small articlesor waste builders materials into a disposal apparatus during buildingoperations. Such an element is easily removed preparatory to placing thedisposer in normal operation. In a convenient form, a sort of integralknob or finger grip may be provided at the center of the splash guard,very small integral rupturable connections permitting tearing away ofthe knob to expose a small water passage and free diaphragm segmentswhich are normally yieldable for the passage of culinary waste.

Other objects of the invention and various usable features ofconstruction will become apparent to those skilled in this art uponreference to the accompanying drawings and the following specicationwherein certain embodiments are disclosed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section, through the upper end of a garbage grindershown in suspended position at the under side of a kitchen sink, a formof the improvement of this invention in its original condition beingillustrated;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View similar to a corresponding portion of Pig.1, the excluding element or knob shown on the diaphragm in Fig. l being,however, removed to prepare the diaphragm for normal grinding use;

Fig. 2A is `a fragmentary view similar to that of Fig. 2 butillustrating means for removably mounting `the diaphragrn in the innerwall of the resilient grinder suspending ring;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat similar view but showing the diaphragm removablymounted upon an internal annular bead of the drainage sleeve supportingthe grinder and in position above the resilient grinder suspending ringillustrated, Figs. 2, 2A and 3 collectively representing a sort ofcomposite mounting of the three different structures;

Fig. 4 is a view partly in cross plan taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. l showing a modifiedarrangement of the present improvement;

Fig. 7 is a view like that of Fig. 6 with the stopper of Fig. 6 removedand the protective element on the diaphragm also removed;

Fig. 8 is a view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view taken approximately on the line 9-9 of Fig.6; and

Fig. l0 is a fragmentary vertical sectional detail taken on the line10-10 of Fig. 9.

The drawings disclose possible embodiments of this improvement, one ofwhich is illustrated in Figs. l, 2, 4 and 5. Here, a typical kitchensink 10 provided with the usual drainage opening receives a drainagesleeve 12 which is supported upon the sink by means of an upper annularange 13. The lower end of the drainage sleeve 12 is provided with aninwardly directed annular bead 14 which serves internally to support acircular stopper 15 which may have an annular sealing lip 16 to restupon the bead 14 to cut oif water ilo-w, and may also have a series ofspaced yieldable lugs 15a which may rest upon the top of the bead 14 kasshown to provide for the flow of water between the stopper 15 and sleeve12 but would yield under downward pressure to snap past the bead 14 'andpermit seating of the annular sealing lip 16. The sleeve 12 may `alsohave a circumferential series of three or four upstanding inwardlystruck spacer detents 12a to center the stopper 15 when elevated asshown, whereby to insure good water iiow. The bottom wall 17 of the bead14 is relatively dat to provide a base or support for a sn-ap ring 18for supporting the weight of a garbage grinderor the like from thesleeve 12.

To accomplish this support, in this form of the invention, an annularrubber suspension neck 20 is employed betweenthe sleeve 12 and thementioned garbage grinder, this neck 2i) having integrally formed withan intermediate portion thereof a rubber splash diaphragm 22. A garbagegrinder housing 24 to be suspended is secured to the lower end 20a` ofthe rubber neck 20 as by vulcanization of such lower end 20a to the topof the housing 24. An auxiliary outer housing 23 which might be of asnap ring construction may also assist in retainingin operativerelationship the housing 24 and said lower neck end 20a. I

section and partly in To support the rubber neck 20 from the suspendingsnap ring 18 an annular support ring 25 is embedded and vulcanized inthe upper end of the annular rubber neck 20. This yring 25 is overlainby a flanged mounting ring 216 whose inner edge bears upon the outeredge of the snap ring 18. To provide for proper centering of themounting ring 26 on the snap ring 18, the mounting ring may be providedwith an annular series of spaced upstanding positioning ngers 26a whichbear against the outer wall of the sleeve l12. To retain the annularrubber neck 20 and its support ring 25 in supported position withrespect to the mounting ring 26, a double anged or channeled ring 28 ismounted within the downturned flange of the mounting ring 26 so that theinner ange of this clamp ring 28 bears under the extending portion ofthe support ring 25 and holds the latter and the neck 20 in suspendedposition as shown. To retain this posi` tion of the parts, a pluralityof suspension bolts 30 is used, these being threaded at 30a intovertically aligned hub portions of the mounting ring 26 with their lowerends extending through the channeled clamp ring 28 and receiving nuts 31to maintain the relationship. At their upper ends, reduced portions ofthe bolts 30 enter small holes in a tensioning ring 32 around the sleeve12', and nuts or heads 33 carried on upper portions of the bolts 30place the ring 32 under tension to compress an appropriate washer 34lying between the ring 32 and the adjacent under portion of the sink 10.

Thus, Figs. l and 2 disclose one desirable means for positioning arubber diaphragm 22 of this invention. To accomplish the exact purposeof the present improve ment, the yieldable diaphragm 22, which isproduced from the indicated rubber or some equivalent yieldableresilient, preferably plastic, material, is provided with a centralintegral removable closure such as the indicated upstanding closure capor knob 35 of Fig. 1. This closure cap 35 is largely severed from theadjacent annular p0rtion of the diaphragm 22, being positioned by smallintegral joint elements 36 best indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 disposedbetween narrow spacing slits 37 lying between the joint elements 36.These joint elements are small enough to be readily rupturable bypulling the closure cap 35 out of its position at the center of thediaphragm 22, since they occupy only a small proportion of the areaaround the base 35a of the cap 35, while at the same time being strongenough initially to retain the cap 35 securely mounted upon the centralportion of the diaphragm 22 in protecting position.

Thus, when a garbage grinder 24, equipped with a diaphragm 22 of thepresent invention is installed in a building under construction, plasterdroppings, nails, wood shavings and other pieces of wood are caught bythe diaphragm and the closure cap 35 and are prevented from falling intothe grinder space within the grinder housing 24. This will avoid damageto the grinder upon subsequent operation which might otherwise result byreason of the falling of such dropped waste materials through thediaphragm 22.

When the building has been completed and readied for occupancy, togetherwith cleaning out of all trash from the diaphragm 22, the closure cap 35is now jerked or pulled out of its seat in the center of the diaphragm22, thus leaving a circular passage 38 through the diaphragm 22 throughwhich garbage and other waste material, together with the usual ilushingwater, will pass. In a preferred form of diaphragm the portion spanningthe opening or throat to the garbage grinder is segmented as by slits 40to provide yieldable fingers or segments 42 radiating outward from thecentral opening 38. To guard against undue tearing at the ends of theslits 40, small circular openings 44 are provided. With thisconstruction, sizable pieces of waste materials such as bones may beeasily forced down through the diaphragm 22 by reason of theyieldability of the segments 42, these resilient portions snapping backinto the normal position illustrated upon passage of the waste. Theopening 38 in the diaphragm 22, which is now unobstructed except forvery small remnants 36a of the ruptured joint elements 36, is smallenough so that a normal amount of flushing water owing from the sinkabove substantially lls such opening and, in conjunction with thesegments 42 of the diaphragm, blocks otf all splashing and substantiallyall grinding noises. Thus, in conjunction with the vibration-absorbingcharacteristics of the rubber or other resilient neck 20, very littlenoise from the grinding elements including a typical electrical motor inthe dis- -poser housing 24 is transmitted to the sink and to the room inwhich it is located.

While Figs. l and 2 disclose the diaphragm 22 as being integral with therubber suspension neck 20, such diaphragm may, however, be removable ina manner such as indicated in Fig. 2A but being provided with ancular-ged integral annular rim portion 45` which is snapped into acorresponding annular groove 45a on the inner wall of the suspensionneck 20 immediately above an annular shoulder 46. Preferably the annularrim 45 will have centrally imbedded therein a resilient wire core 47which provides for positively snapping the rim 45 into position, and atthe same time resists undesired dislodgment of the diaphragm 22. Again,the diaphragm 22 may be removably mounted as illustrated in Fig. 3 whereit is provided with an integral upstanding rim 48 that seats within andrests upon the previously described inwardly directed annular bead 14 ofthe drainage sleeve 12, and may permanently replace the stopper 15 of Fil.

gAnother manner of mounting the resilient diaphragm of this invention isillustrated in Figs. 6 to l0. Here, the sink 50 receives at its drainageopening a drainage sleeve 52 flanged at 53 and having on its lower endan inturned annular seat 54 for a stopper 55 having an annular sealinglip 56. The sleeve 52 is externally threaded at its lower end asindicated at 58 for support of a ygarbage grinder housing 24a mounted insuspended position below the drainage sleeve 52.

At the top of the grinder housing 24a there is located a cushioning ring60 of rubber or similar elastomeric resilient material as previouslyindicated by which an anti-splash diaphragm 62 is integrally carried.This diaphragm, like the antisplash diaphragm 22 of Fig. l, is desirablycup-shaped, being directed downward and inward to discharge waste andwash water toward the center of the grinding chamber within the housing24a. For proper positioning of the annular resilient ring 60 invibration-absorbing position between the top of the housing 24a and thedrainage sleeve 52, the top of such housing is provided with anoutwardly directed integral ange 65 `around which the annular bodyportion of the ring 60 is fitted or molded las illustrated. The top ofthe ring 60 is clamped against the under side of a mounting ring 66threaded upon the sleeve 52 by means of the previously indicated threads58, and a clamp ring 68 is disposed around the topof the grinder housing24a below the ilange 65 thereof and below the depending outer flangeportion 60a of the rubber ring 60. The clamp ring 68, which isangle-shaped in cross section to provide an upstanding outermost flange,is provided with an annular series of outwardly extending ears 68a,which may be slotted as indicated at the right of Fig. 6 and receivesuspension bolts 70. These bolts 70 are threaded into the mounting ring66 and receive on their lower ends nuts 71 bearing against the underside of the clamp ring 68 for the purpose of compressing the outerdepending ange portion 60a of the rubber ring 60 as required to providetight joints and good `vibrationabsorbing suspension. It is desirable tolimit compression of the ring portion 60 between the clamp ring 68 andthe mounting ring 66, and for this purpose annular portions of themounting ring above the ears 68a of the clamp ring 68 are provided withdepending fingers 66a aligned with corresponding ear portions 68a, sothat the portions 66a and 68a will be brought into contact to limitindicated compression of the rubber ring 60 should the nuts 71 betightened sufficiently to accomplish otherwise such result. In this formthe head 73 of each bolt 70 is adjusted, before tightening its nut 71,to bind against a tension ring 72 underlying the sink 50, whereby toproperly compress a washer 74 to yield a fluid-tight joint between thesink adjacent its drainage opening and the overhanging flange 53 of thesleeve 52. An intermediate spacer bolt 7 0a is threaded into themounting ring 66 and its head engages the tension ring 72.

The central portion of the antisplash diaphragm 62 is provided with atemporary closure cap or knob 75 corresponding generally with thetemporary closure knob 35 of the form of Fig. 1. With this particularconstruction, the diaphragm 62 is provided with a large `dischargeopening 78 and is not necessarily segmented as is the diaphragm 22 ofFig. 1. With this form small spacing joint elements 76, integral withthe diaphragm 62 and a horizontal web portion 77 of the temporaryclosure 75, annularly located around the opening 78, are used at theunder side of the diaphragm 62 so as to position the web portion 77below the level of the diaphragm 62.

Thus, since the joint elements 76 Iare of limited extent around theopening 78, but are nevertheless sufficiently strong to support Wasteplaster, wood scraps and the like, the temporary closure 75, 77 is bothadapted to protect the grinding mechanism in the grinder housing 24aduring building operations, and to be manually torn away when the homeor other building s finished for occupancy so that the garbage grinderis ready for normal use. In this particular form, the opening 78 in theantisplash diaphragm 62 may be relatively large as indicated so as topass a human hand if desired, or it could be small rand be closed by atemporary closure knob 35 like that of Fig. 1, whereby to yield a smallpassage like the passage 38, which would be completely lled with waterduring ushing operations. Such a small passage may amount to only aroundone tenth of the crosssectional area of the throat spanned by thediaphragm.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, an antisplash diaphragm 22 or 62may be integrally or removably carried by a cushioning ring 60, or by afree suspension ring or neck 20, and may have a relatively largedischarge passage 78, or a relatively small-capacity discharge passage38. With either form, or kindred form, any of the indicated structureswith a temporary closure such as the closure 35 or the closure 75 arereadily molded Vand cured so that the small joint elements 36 and 76,which are the only connections attaching these -temporary closures tothe respective antisplash diaphragms, `are readily rupturable to clearthe spaces 38 and 78 when the buildings are ready for occupancy, and yetare amply strong and durable to prevent undesired materials from fallinginto the grinding devices during building operations.

It has been indicated above that the resilient suspension neck 20 andthe diaphragm 22 and 62 may be produced from natural rubber or fromsynthetic rubber or other flexible rubber substitutes, all of which arefrequently identified by the more recent term elastomers and which wesometimes designate herein as elastomeric materials.

The invention claimed is:

l. In combination in waste disposal apparatus: a sink having a drainopening; a grinder housing suspended under said opening `and having awaste receiving throat; a resilient ring device disposed between saidsink and said housing and cushioning the latter to limit transmission ofvibrations to said sink; and an antisplash diaphragm carried by saidresilient device, said diaphragm having a circular body portion and atemporary closure attached thereto centrally to close a dischargepassage therethrough, said diaphragm having readily rupturable jointmeans connecting said temporary closure to said body portion to retainwaste materials thereon, and being rupturable for removal of saidclosure to open said discharge passage.

2. A combination as n claim 1 wherein said diaphragm, closure and jointmeans are elastomeric material.

3. An antisplash diaphragm for a water-flushed waste disposal apparatus,including a circular disk member, such member being partially severedaround a central area thereof to form a rupturable joint with a centralclosure member in said area, said joint being manually rupturable torelease said closure member from said disk member to leave a centralopening in said disk member, said disk member being provided with radialslits eX- tending outwardly from said rupturable joint andeircumferentially spaced around said disk member.

4. A diaphragm as set forth in claim 3, in which said central closuremember has -a portion extending upwardly from said rupturable joint andadapted to be grasped manually to release said closure member from saiddisk member along said joint.

5. An antisplash diaphragm for water-flushed disposal apparatusincluding a circular disk member formed of elastomeric material capableof returning to its original shape on release of expanding pressures,such member being partially severed adjacent its center to provide atemporary central closure member joined to a surrounding annular bodyportion of said disk member by plural spaced rupturable joint elementseasily ruptured by manual pull upon said closure member to leave acentral passage therethrough, the portion of said disk membersurrounding said passage being segmented to yield to waste materialforced therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,635,509 Stewart July 12, 1927 2,772,017 Rieke Nov. 27, 1956 2,785,864Jordan Mar. 19, 1957

